Monday, January 31, 2011

Bachmann’s deceased father-in-law still registered as agent and general partner for family farm that has provided her federal farm subsidies.By Karl Bremer

Michele Bachmann’s family farm limited partnership in Buffalo County, WI, still lists her late father-in-law Paul Bachmann as the partnership’s registered agent and general partner with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, even though he has been deceased since May 2009. That puts the partnership in violation of Wisconsin state law, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Financial Institutions.

The Bachmann Farm Family Partnership comprises 951 acres with at least one home on 38 parcels in Independence, WI, with a total assessed value of $664,950. Michele and Marcus Bachmann are partners in the farm partnership, which was established April 12, 2001, with an ownership share valued at between $100,001 and $250,000. Its corporate records on file with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions listed Paul Bachmann of Independence, WI, as the partnership’s general partner and registered agent as of Jan. 31, 2011.

It’s not known who—if anyone—besides Michele and Marcus are involved in the partnership. Wisconsin state law does not require the disclosure of anyone other than the general partner and registered agent for limited partnerships.

According to a Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions spokesman, if a registered agent or general partner dies, the law requires that the partnership file notice with the state. That office has received no notice of a change in general partner or registered agent for the Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership since its initial filing in 2001, according to the spokesman. Paul Bachmann died May 20, 2009, so that would appear to put the Bachmanns in violation of the law.

However, the Department of Financial Institutions has no investigatory or enforcement powers, so it’s not clear how the Bachmanns would be brought into compliance.

In Buffalo County’s tax records, the billing address for the partnership’s properties is listed as “c/o Marcus Bachmann, Bachmann Farm Family Limited Partnership,” at the Bachmann’s Stillwater, MN, address.

BACHMANN’S FARM SUBSIDIES
Bachmann has claimed between $32,503 and $105,000 in income from the farm since 2007, according to her congressional financial disclosure forms for 2007, 2009 and 2010. She still has not reported her 2008 income from the farm on her disclosure form from that year—an apparent violation of yet another law--congressional reporting requirements.

This is the same Bachmann family farm that has collected a total of $154,755 in federal farm subsidies since the partnership was formed in 2001, most of it in corn and dairy subsidies. Paul Bachmann collected a total of $259,332 in federal farm subsidies from 1995-2009. However, it’s not known whether Michele and Marcus were involved in the farm prior to the establishment of the family partnership in 2001.

Just last year, the Federal Elections Commission in a 10-page letter rapped the congresswoman’s campaign for 71 improper entries and 18 unacceptable employer or occupation entries in its 2009 end-of-year report.

If Michele Bachmann can't keep her own financial and ethical houses in order, what makes her think she's qualified to tend to the nation's?

24 comments:

Another couple of city millionaires with city careers taking farm subsidies from govt intended for stuggling family farms. Maybe her dad was a family farmer, but he is gone and Michelle and Marcus are have no need for this welfare from the govt.

Apparently no one here has been involved in one of these partnerships that requires a registered agent. As a business owner, I can tell you that it isn't that hard to miss refiling this information. No one probably sends you a notice. Not the state, not anyone. You just have to know about it and remember to do it.

Just recently, there was an article about a well known chapter of a group, maybe the local ACLU, who forgot to re-register their name with the Secretary of State's office.

I think it is also important, for transparency purposes, to tell readers how many campaign entries there were in total. How many wrong isn't a really good indicator as to whether someone is doing a good job with their record keeping.

If Bachmann got 71 out of 100 entries wrong, then yes that is a failure. If it was 71 out of 250,000 entries, well then that isn't much to squawk about.

She proposed taking the social security benefits from Disabled Veterans who are Disabled and paid into those benefits, yet she takes farm subsidies? The woman has no morals, no sense of obligation to those who have given so much.

She wants to save 40 million a year putting Disabled Veterans and their families below the poverty line, while she sits in her million dollar home. Shame on her!

This woman wants to put Disabled American Veterans and their families in the street based on her proposal to cut $14.5 Billion from the Veterans Budget. She lives in a Million dollar plus home. She will never understand what a disabled Veteran goes through to survive let alone live in luxury. Take a look at Senators salary, Congressmens salary, their perks, their Pork Projects and the $15,000,000,000.00 Federal Transportation Budget. Then go stand and look at yourself in the Mirror! I hope you see a reflection !

This women is an embarrassment, yet the hillbillies in the 6th, mostly north and west of 97 vote her in every year. They don't care that she is a cheat, they don't care she is a liar, all they care about is that she supports the anti-choice agenda, and hates the black man in the White House.

Since Wisconsin now has a teabagger as governor and Repugs in charge of the Legislature, I don't think she'll have any problem getting special dispensation quickly. They've already sent through a bill to bypass environmental laws for a shopping mall developer.

How heavily do Monsanto and ADM support Ms Bachmann? Do you have numbers? I'd be interested to know. Also, might tie-in with St Croix River Bridge as ADM subsidiary runs shipping in Mississippi. Thanks for your blog! Good work!

She is a hypocrite like all of the other republicans. They want to take everything from the middle class and poor, but lets give it all to the rich. To me that is a dictatorship and that is what we will get if they get in. I hope this article appears in every paper soon, then maybe her religious constituents can see her for what she is.

Our government subsidizes dairy farms. So basically our government gives money to people that keep cows as tortured, short lived sex slaves , steals her offspring to torture and kill as babies, and then we feed the artery clogging secreations to our children. Give up cheese! Drink almond milk! More nutrious and no one dies.

Ripple in Stillwater

Ripple in Stillwater is the sole creation of Stillwater, Minnesota, writer Karl Bremer. It covers whatever captures the author's muse at the moment. You can reach Ripple in Stillwater at saintcroix-at-aol-dot-com, or you can follow me on Twitter @kdbremer. If you're wondering about the name of this blog, go here.

Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Award Winner

Ripple in Stillwater author Karl Bremer won Second Place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Awards for "Best Use of Public Records."

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